Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant believes the Los Angeles Lakers were beginning to figure out their identity as a team before superstar forward LeBron James went down with a left groin injury.

LeBron James suffered the injury on Christmas Day against Kevin Durant and the Warriors at Oracle Arena. Despite losing James in the third quarter, the Lakers still defeated the Dubs by a final score of 127-101.

Since then, though, LA has been in a funk. The Lakers are 5-9 without James and have dropped to the ninth spot in the Western Conference standings.

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Durant says James' injury “threw a wrench into the chemistry” of the Lakers.

“They’re a team trying to figure out their identity, and I think they were figuring it out before Bron got hurt,” Durant told Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I think here, with his injury, it kind of threw a wrench into the chemistry with the team because I think they were in a good groove, especially when they killed us on Christmas.”

No one knows when LeBron is going to return to the lineup. The Lakers said last week that the four-time MVP has been cleared to practice this week. The Purple and Gold need The King back soon, otherwise, they are going to fall way back in the standings.